For Bikol and the World

Tourism: It's Local!

Vox Bikol — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 08:56:06 +0000

In fine, tourism is local, not national. And local is about being ourselves in our best.

Truth

Vox Bikol — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 01:46:25 +0000

The Truth Commission should consider the report by Human Rights Watch on the Maguindanao Massacre and the Ampatuans and other warlords, which was released a few days ago. Entitled, “‘They Own the People’: The Ampatuans, State-Backed Militias, and Killings in the Southern Philippines,” the report also implicates former Pres. Macapagal-Arroyo...

Coops

Vox Bikol — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 01:03:36 +0000

I thought I’d share with our readers some salient points of my lecture for fellow lawyers at the UP Law Center in Diliman, Quezon City, on Nov. 15, as part of our compliance with Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) as decreed by the Supreme Court.

Vox Bikol

Vox Bikol — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 18:34:48 +0000

Job Title:

Dr.

Scientific vs. Xenophilic

Vox Bikol — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 00:54:43 +0000

Let me apologize first for mentioning Araneta University in my Aug. 16 article "Pinoy DLP v. American UbD" instead of ARELLANO among hundreds of schools nationwide that have embraced the revolutionary Dynamic Learning Program (DLP) for high school developed by our Filipino physicists and 2010 Ramon Magsaysay Awardees Dr. Christopher Bernido and Dr. Maria Victoria Carpio-Bernido. Arellano is also working with both scientists-educators to use DLP even in college and elementary.

Supreme Tyranny

Vox Bikol — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 22:04:10 +0000

Justices are public servants whose work-especially if plagiarized from foreign authors-should never escape scrutiny no matter their claim to "dignity of the court" or "independence of the judiciary." We have a greater right to free speech and against global humiliation.

Supreme Whitewash

Vox Bikol — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 14:20:40 +0000

On reading the controversial "plagiarism" decision on WWII comfort women by Justice Del Castillo, who is not a known expert in international law, my first impression was that it was like a pakitang-gilas journal article by a researcher with international law background.

Supreme – Even in Error

Vox Bikol — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 23:15:47 +0000

A time-honored principle of our system of constitutional government is that the Supreme Court is supreme in so far as it performs its mandated duties under the Constitution. And a most important provision enshrined in our present Constitution-learning from the lesson of a puppet Supreme Court during the Marcos Dictatorship-is the express power of judicial review.

K+12 = More of the Same Rotten System and Colonial Mentality

Vox Bikol — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 18:19:56 +0000

In its DISCUSSION PAPER ON THE ENHANCED K+12 BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAM, 05 October 2010 (http://www.deped.gov.ph/cpanel/uploads/issuanceImg/oct6-k12.pdf), the DepEd's argument for a 12-year basic education is that the rest of the world-or the moneyed-is doing it.

What a glaring tu quoque fallacy! Hello, just because everyone's doing K+12 doesn't mean that we should also follow it.

65th UNGA: Freedom and Equality

Vox Bikol — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 21:59:20 +0000

Every September, the UN General Assembly holds its annual session. Over the years, it has become a procession or ritual of speeches by world leaders that try to address the problems and challenges that face all nations and peoples of the world.

If there is one thing we can be sure of, when people talk, at least they're not fighting for the meantime. And that is an achievement in itself.

The IIRC "First" Report: A Waste of Paper

Vox Bikol — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 09:40:33 +0000

First off, I don't have a copy of the "first" report of the IIRC on the Manila hostage incident of Aug. 23. They said it's on the web, but I didn't bother to get it since it's incomplete anyway.

Secondly, the IIRC report is also just a "first" report. The IIRC would still be submitting a "second" report to the President. By this scheme, they can always change everything. It would then be a waste of time going over the "first" report.

More Miracles and INA Stamps

Vox Bikol — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 23:55:31 +0000

Why we Bikolanos come home to Naga every September is not only a most cherished tradition, but a deeply personal pilgrimage to revitalize our journey of faith with Ina in our daily struggles wherever we may be. More than anything else, it is our special way of thanking God for his many blessings and miracles granted through Ina's intercession.

INA’s Miracles

Vox Bikol — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:17:10 +0000

It is certainly great news that as we celebrate the 300^th year of our devotion to Ina, Our Lady of Peñafrancia, we hear about the miraculous healing of our very own Archbishop Leonard Z. Legaspi. Indeed, we trust that his present remission from lung cancer would be a permanent cure. And we continue to pray for his good health.

Fact and Opinion

Vox Bikol — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:20:35 +0000

A topic I help my daughter with for school now is "fact' and "opinion." The way things are going with the government, PNoy and his schoolmates may want to go back to this elementary lesson, too. And this is so much more important since the mistakes they make do not only embarrass the country, but also cause irreparable damage and injustice to individuals.

Let's start with the blooper MC No. 1 on the wholesale sacking of midnight appointees. It was issued, withdrawn, and re-issued upon being "refined" all in one day, but still officially released again as the same MC. But when an act is done, it is done. Finished. Quod scripsi, scripsi.

Pinoy DLP and American UbD

Vox Bikol — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 03:38:20 +0000

Of greater concern than the 12-year basic schooling issue is our children's right to the right education. And on this point there is one midnight act of the Arroyo administration that needs reviewing: DepEd Order No. 76, s. 2010, June 4, 2010. This order implements the 2010 Secondary Education Curriculum officially transplanting in our country the so-called "Understanding by Design" (UbD) program.